Page 158 of Lady of Ashes

And he’d watched.

Scarlett had seemed tired. Exhausted. He could see it in her eyes. She held herself with the grace of a queen, but her darkness still lingered, even though her shadows never made an appearance. Sorin was discreet, but Callan caught the quick glances he sent her way. The slight tightening of his lips at whatever he saw when he looked at her. And while Sorin’s marriage band still adorned his ?nger, Scarlett’s did not. They might resemble perfection on the outside, but something was off.

“You are the Crown Prince. It is not as if they could refuse,” Drake replied from where he’d taken a seat at one end of the sofa.

“They would be too suspicious,” Tava said, bringing Callan a glass of liquor before taking another to her brother.

“I would be more concerned with where we are even supposed to begin looking if we get in,” Drake said with a nod of thanks to Tava as she perched on the arm of the sofa next to him.

“Juliette was killed in the cells beneath the house,” Tava said thoughtfully. “If it came loose while they moved her body, it could be anywhere. Anyone could have found it and pocketed it.”

“This will be like trying to ?nd a black cat in the dark,” Callan said.

“Dif?cult but not impossible,” Tava replied. “The cat’s eyes would give it away.”

Drake huffed a laugh. “Only you Tava,” he murmured.

“I think instead of focusing on getting into the Lairwood Estate, we need to draw Mikale and Veda out so someone can go in and look,” Tava continued, ignoring the teasing comment of her brother. Her hand came to her throat, her ?ngers dragging across her skin, searching for the amulet that had hung there for years.

Callan ran a hand along his jaw, mulling that over. “Mikale would be easy enough. We could plan a hunting outing, but how do we draw out Veda and somehow get away to go into the Estate?”

“I could go in myself—”

“Absolutely not,” Drake said before Callan could say the same.

“Then perhaps we wait for an opportunity to present itself,” Tava said.

“I would prefer to get this over and done with so we no longer need to deal with them,” Callan grumbled.

“Bitterness does not suit you, Prince,” Tava commented, taking her brother’s glass and swallowing a sip of his liquor.

“Tava,” Drake chided.

“It is ?ne,” Callan said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “She is to be my wife after all. She should be able to speak openly.”

“When did it stop being a ruse?” Drake asked, his brow arching.

“It didn’t,” Tava replied, handing the glass back to him.

Drake looked back and forth between Callan and Tava. “We should go, Tava,” he said after several beats of awkward silence.

“I need to visit with Callan for a bit,” she replied.

“And how are you to get home?”

“I will make sure she gets home safely,” Callan said, staring at Tava over his glass as he took another sip. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to visit with her, even if only for a few minutes. She kept him sane these days, especially in their private moments. She didn’t spare his feelings or mind her manners. She was like the queen that had left a little bit ago if he were being honest, albeit much less … dark.

“I can wait if I need to,” Drake said, pushing to his feet and setting his empty glass on a side table.

“I will be ?ne, Drake. I will send word. Father is gone on business again anyway. No one will know I was gone,” Tava reassured him.

He bent and pressed a light kiss to her cheek. “Be safe, Tava.”

“Always,” she said with a soft smile, reaching over and squeezing his hand.

“Prince,” Drake said with a quick bow.

“Thank you, Drake,” Callan replied, motioning dismissal with his glass.

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